As the semiconductor industry has progressed into nanometer technology process nodes in pursuit of higher device density, higher performance, and lower costs, challenges from both fabrication and design issues have resulted in the development of three-dimensional designs of a semiconductor device, such as a fin field effect transistor (FinFET). A typical FinFET is fabricated with a thin vertical “fin” (or fin structure) extending from a substrate formed by, for example, etching away a portion of a silicon layer of the substrate. The channel of the FinFET is formed in this vertical fin. A gate is provided over three sides (e.g., wrapping) the fin. Having a gate on both sides of the channel allows gate control of the channel from both sides. Further advantages of FinFET comprise reducing the short channel effect and higher current flow.
However, there are challenges to implementation of such features and processes in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication. For example, silicide formation on strained materials consumes a portion of the strained material. The remaining strained material may not deliver sufficient amount of strain into channel region of the semiconductor device, resulting in an insufficient on-current of the semiconductor device.